Unregistered Electrical Con-tractors

[nkawit]

this is like asking how long is a piece of string.

if you are a fully complient electrical company...you shouldnt be charging less than R400 per hour...however the electrical industry is like the worse trade to be in...the lowest paid...with every man...his uncle and dog doing electrical work.

sounds like the IT industry ...

[bergie]

Who should an electrician be registered with in order to be an accredited installer? The one I just had says he is registered with MERSETA - but are they not just a training organization?

ecb electrical contracting board

[murdock]

dont worry you not the only one...ecb...eca...aia...seta...dol......bargaining council(new laws i hear...no more controll over wages)...i dont think any of them know their ass from their elbows...

there is a positive side to all this...us as electrical contractors can screw our staff and our customers...without any peanlities...make a killing out of the public...because if people like myself who have been in the industry for 30 years doesnt know what is going on...how the poor customers gona know.

[Dave A]

bargaining council(new laws i hear...no more controll over wages)

Pray do tell more

[murdock]

dave ithink i read it in the sparks mag...something about unions and the bargaining council....will check when i have time....i am also interested ....

just received some snotty letters from absa bank...apparently they have taken over the pension fund now for the bargaining council because the last bunch robbed everyone of their pension money...or should i same... last i heard there was a court case

according to them i owe them a whole lot of money...back dated to when my company was "not trading "...so this could get interesting....when i contacted them...they appologised for sending the incorrect forms and said they were busy with my summons...man you got to love the effieciency of people oops...

question...can i get a pension fund for my staff from a private company or do i have to use the bargaining council pension fund...which which apparently has gone backrupt...the last i heard bernie carr was fighting tooth and nail...because he is due to go on pension soon and if he doesnt get it right will loose his pension and everyone else who has a pension fund with the bargaining council....this could be the reason they have moved to absa...and then you have to ask yourself how safe is absa?

[1reniernel]

Hello guys,

You may want to see this: *link to 404 page*

Regards

[1reniernel]

I have left out a front slash I think. (apology) I hope this link will work: http://coc.weciboo.com/

The way that I have learned to add the description of a large installation, make it almost impossible for corruption to prevail, unless I turn corrupt myself. I expect from the company to involve their own maintenance man, or -team, to do the corrective installation work, with me to oversee. So all I invoice for is for my fee as 'n would-be sole proprietor.

Regards

[Sparks]

And where, pray tell, are you going to find "a registered person that undertook to remain available and contactable." who will ensure that all the criteria have actually been met before signing the "edited" DCOC?
What would you expect him to charge for 24/7 standby.?
Do you really expect him to be of sober mind every weekend?

[Yvonne]

Hi Everyone,

Domestic Total Rewiring Installation:
What proof of qualification can we ask for in order to be positive that we have someone qualified doing the installation.
We have had electricians do small sections over the past years, but they said "don't worry about rewiring", now I wish we had, as I have no idea if they will indeed renew every area.
Sadly I have no trust remaining!
We have tenants in the house, and are not in the country so have no way to actually check ourselves.

Any advice?

Yvonne Symons

[AndyD]

Hi Yvonne.

How's Houston this time of year? It brings back memories of some time ago when I lived in Austin which is one of my favourite cities.

I have a few questions if I may.

1. Where is the house, how big is it and how old is it?
2. Is the house rented via an agent?
3. Why have you had electricians in the house? Are you preparing to sell it?
4. What reasons did they give you that a full rewire is required. Can you scan and attach their report for us to see?
5. Do you not have family or close friends that could oversee contractors?
   

If you're in Houston then there's no way you can oversee this work so if you can't pay a local agent or persuade a family member to help you you're going to need to engage a third party professional to 'project manage' for you.

I'm also concerned about what has happened between your previous contractors saying a rewire is unnecessary and your present contractor saying it must be done. Unless the house is very old I don't see why a full rewire would be necessary.

[Dave A]

What proof of qualification can we ask for in order to be positive that we have someone qualified doing the installation.

You need to ask for proof of the registration as an electrical contractor. To give you an idea of what you're looking for, the top portion of our current certificate looks like this:



It used to be a card - opened up it was about A5 in size - but I don't have a sample in electronic format to give you an idea of what to look for right now. I'm not sure if all those card type registrations have expired yet.

This doesn't mean you'll definitely end up with suitably competent people working on the site, but it certainly does mean you have the identity of the responsible person(s).

[Just Gone]

There are proper registered "electricians" out there who do a far worse job than some non registered or unqualified electricians !! I have seen some db boards that look like a bad birds nest. To me it should be neat and tidy, all wires bent and folded squarely making it easier to work on.

[AndyD]

I would go the registered electrical contractor as Dave suggests, he's going to have to be registered in order to sign off the work and issue certificates. Kevin does have a point though, being registered is far from a guarantee of the standard of work he will do. You need to find a contractor through word of mouth recommendation.

[Sparks]

Ask the reason a rewire is necessary. Age is not good enough. If the insulation readings are still acceptable a rewire is not required. If the insulation readings are given as the reason, ask what the reading is. Get someone else to do the test as well. I have in many cases advised people that a rewire was uncalled for when asked to do so based purely on age. The standards of the cables were much higher then than now.